The spectrum of neoplasms involving the urinary bladder is diverse, and, at times, different entities with distinct prognostic and managerial implications may have significant morphologic overlap. The presence of a neoplasm with an unusual morphologic appearance, such as an undifferentiated spindled, or plasmacytoid pattern may necessitate immunohistochemistry to establish the diagnosis. In this review, we discuss a series of distinct diagnostic scenarios, including high-grade undifferentiated carcinoma versus prostatic adenocarcinoma, enteric-type adenocarcinoma versus secondary colorectal adenocarcinoma, spindle cell proliferations, neoplasms with plasmacytoid morphology, endophytic tumors with a nested growth pattern, and flat urothelial lesions with atypia. We also discuss markers supporting urothelial differentiation in the context of a metastatic carcinoma from an unknown primary. The importance of using a morphologically derived differential diagnosis to guide the selection and interpretation of immunohistochemical studies is emphasized, and the varying utility (specificity) of the individual immunohistochemical markers within each setting is addressed.